Could 16.1M LINK whale buys trigger a Chainlink breakout?

Projects with whale attention often lead the market, driving liquidity and significant price movements.

Chainlink [LINK] entered an accumulation phase, where whales were buying the dip while retail investors sold. This shift indicated a potential upcoming price shift.

Here’s what happened.

LINK’s bullish shift revealed

At the time of writing, Santiment data revealed that the top 100 Chainlink whales resumed accumulating LINK below $13, adding 16.1 million LINK since November.

Retail investors sold off amid FUD, while whales capitalized on the dip, positioning for a rally. This often indicated the market was gearing up for an upward move, with larger players taking control.

Source: Santiment

Whale-driven accumulation had historically triggered price movements, especially when big players led, breaking key resistance levels.

A massive move next?

An analyst identified a crucial support zone for LINK, suggesting the coin had the potential for a 1000% move. With LINK holding above the 0.618 Fibonacci level ($9.88), the analyst forecasted price targets of $31, $52, and $100. 

Source: X

These levels represented key resistance that LINK needed to break through to start a bull run. As long as LINK stayed above the 0.786 Fibonacci zone, the bullish trend remained intact, creating strong potential for future gains.

Is Chainlink primed for a bullish breakout?

Since July 2025, LINK has been dominated by Taker Sell activity. In 2026, however, a shift occurred, and the Taker Buy dominance took over.

Source: CryptoQuant

This change showed that buying pressure now outweighed selling, which could have fueled a price rally. The rise in taker buy dominance also pointed to growing institutional interest and confidence in LINK’s future performance.

Could this have pushed LINK to new highs?

Final Thoughts

• Whale accumulation below $13 strengthened the bullish case for LINK, with potential price targets of $31 and beyond. 
• Taker Buy dominance and strong technical support suggested LINK was set to break through key resistance levels, potentially sparking a major price rally.